The players who want to stay are probably leaving. The players who want out might be staying.

From a tightly knit team that acted more like high school teammates than seasoned pros in 2013, the Red Sox have the look of a club that's just about ready to mail it in. The action on the field is without enthusiasm or life, while the real action takes place in the front office, where Ben Cherington is trying to sell off parts from a broken machine.

One is Jonny Gomes, the Kevin Millar of the 2013 team but an atrophying spare part now.

Another is Stephen Drew. Trading him now would be the ultimate admission of a previous mistake, but that would be better than hanging on to him for two useless months.

Lester would rather not be traded. Jake Peavy wanted to stay. Both understand why sometimes that's not practical.
Then there is Felix Doubront, whose horrendous showing in Monday night's 14-1 loss to Toronto put the spotlight on a pitcher whose time in Boston could be numbered - if the Red Sox can somehow dump him on someone else.

Yet the trade deadline approaches and Doubront is still in Boston. It is apparent that Rubby De La Rosa, Brandon Workman, and even the unpredictable Allen Webster have moved past him in the team's plans for a rotation of the future

Trading Lester would open up a rotation spot. Filling it with Doubront would allow him to stop complaining about pitching in relief, but is that really the way to solve the problem of a disenchanted pitcher who wants more than he has earned?

Doubront thinks he has earned a rotation spot. A member of the Red Sox organization since 2005, he has had success as a starter, though often in a hold-your-breath kind of way that makes observers wonder why he has never crossed the threshhold from adequate back-end man to reliable workhorse.

He has never done as well in relief, but his value as a starter is inflated in his own mind. The only year in which Doubront was entirely a starter came in 2012, when his ERA of 4.86 in 29 starts was right about his career level of an uninspiring 4.82.

The only manager who treated Doubront in starter-only terms was Bobby Valentine. Look where it got Valentine, the Red Sox and Doubront.

Last year was better, with an 11-6 record and a 4.32 ERA in 27 starts with two relief outings. That's OK, but never has he been good enough for long enough to force his way into the rotation for good.

This year, Doubront's ERA is 6.07. While still young, he gives the appearance of a pitcher who has A) probably hit his peak level and could rediscover it but not surpass it, and B) a grouser with an unrealistic, inflated view of his own worth.

Getting clobbered in relief is not the way to re-establish your credentials to start. Doubront's teammates (notably David Ross) say the pitcher is trying his best, but it's hard to shake the notion that Doubront is bringing his unhappiness to the mound and making a bad situation worse.

Doubront declined to speak with media after Monday's game. That was the smartest decision he has made lately, for when he has spoken, it has only made things worse.

This is not new. Last September, Doubront similarly groused about being moved to the bullpen.

The difference is that in 2013, nobody had time to care. The Red Sox were surging to an eventual World Series title. Veteran Ryan Dempster said he welcomed a move similar to that of Doubront, who was left to either hop on board or miss the train to the duck boat parade.

As the 2014 season disintegrates, the griping is more noticeable and more distracting. To say the Red Sox are coming apart from within - one year after Kumbaya-singing their way to a title - is unfair.

But the mood has darkened as the realization sets in that 2014 will not be the year of a great comeback. The last breath of that hope was doused in the past week, when Boston has been outscored 46-15 in a 1-6 skid.

That officially made Boston a team of sellers. There is no shame in that, though it did startle Shane Victorino, who said he never perceived the Red Sox as such an outfit.

He wasn't around in 2012, when Boston dumped a quarter billion dollars of superstar talent on the Los Angeles Dodgers. For a team that treats the term "bridge year,'' as a profanity, it's tough to swallow giving up, but that's the reality and everyone knows it.

Guys like Peavy and Lester have wanted to stick it out. One is gone and the other could be going - and don't fool yourself into thinking that Lester will rush back in 2015, not when a bidding war for him develops and the Red Sox choose to step aside.

Most Red Sox fans probably wished but did not expect a repeat of magical 2013. But neither did they expect this stink bomb of a season, either.

It's baseball. It happens. Disappointment should not be confused with shame.

Lester could be going, going, gone. It would also be wise to ship Doubront out of town.

If no other big league team wants him, there is always Pawtucket. If he's going to be unhappy, he might as well be unhappy there.